Is Tony La Russa Working for Stl Again
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Startled by the news that former New York Yankee skipper Joe Torre is vacating the Los Angeles Dodgers' dugout next season, I started to wonder if Saint Louis Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa needs to resign.
Torre's determination resulted in Peter Gammons also questioning Tony La Russa's future, and Gammons mentioned Saint Louis as a possible destination for Torre if La Russa steps down.
It would be a unique office reversal: Tony relieved Torre as the Cardinals' skipper in 1996.
It appears that the Dodgers' young and rising core players outgrew Torre, and it appears to me that Tony La Russa has grown bored with his title core in St Louis.
Speculation on La Russa's futurity has been almost nonexistent in the St. Louis media until this past calendar week when the Cardinals collapsed to the abyss behind the Cincinnati Reds.
And it was also revealed that Colby Rasmus was on the outs with La Russa and that the Cardinals' brass had favored Rasmus over La Russa.
In most cases, players lose if they challenge La Russa: the franchise leader in managerial wins.
The question is then: "Does Rasmus' challenge mark La Russa's reversal of fortune?"
La Russa was once untouchable: he'due south overcome popularity and power struggles with Major League Hall of Famers and All-Stars Ozzie Smith, Ron Gant, Jose Canseco, and Scott Rolen.
The mighty Cardinals' crime of the 2004 season, featuring Albert Pujols, Rolen, and Jim Edmonds was ane of the about feared Cardinals' lineups ever.
Rolen challenged La Russa for most of their time together with the Cardinals and by 2007, Scotty was gone.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak wants a core of Pujols, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter as future closer, Matt Holliday, David Freese, Yadier Molina, John Jay, and Colby Rasmus.
Pujols, Holliday, and Rasmus could match Pujols, Rolen, and Edmonds for the adjacent few years.
It'due south been a historic Cardinal run of sectionalisation championships for La Russa: in the last 10 seasons, the Cardinals have finished outset 7 times: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009.
He guided the ball club through two major tragedies: Darryl Kyle's and Josh Hancock's deaths. And Tony later helped rebuild Mark McGwire's paradigm.
Trailing only 2 legends, Connie Mack and John McGraw, for well-nigh wins past a Major League manager, La Russa was the outset manager to win pennants in both leagues and he is the second of two mangers to win the World Series in both leagues (Sparky Anderson was the first to do it).
In 2004, Tony took the Cardinals to the World Series for the first time since 1987.
And so with the worst ever regular season record for a Major League championship team, the Redbirds won the World Serial 4 – 1 confronting the Detroit Tigers in 2006.
Quirky moves similar batting the pitcher eighth, falling asleep at the wheel of an idling SUV at a green light in Florida, being accused of cleansing the team of African American players, and infighting with his own Hall of Fame caliber players helped to identify his personality.
General opinion on La Russa's time to come every bit Redbirds' managing director is divided in typical St. Louis style: the urban center may be the largest "de facto segregation" urban center in America.
Iv unique Italian American influenced surnames bask a special affinity amid many Redbirds' fans: Cary, Garagiola, Berra, and La Russa.
Old Major League players and sports entertainment legends, Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra grew up on the same cake in St. Louis' famous Italian American neighborhood: The Hill.
Ane truism most the best fans in baseball game is that as long whatever thespian or coach performs in winning Cardinals' way on the diamond, then Redbirds' fans will respect him.
Still the Cardinals have plant few blackness players rosterable during La Russa's regime.
This is a franchise that is proud of its minority histrion tape: Pujols, Cepeda, Brock, Gibson, Inundation, Smith, George Hendricks, Lee Smith, Terry Pendleton, and Vince Coleman.
Simply these days, Willie McGee ain't walking through that club firm door.
In 1996, Tony inherited a team that included Ozzie Smith, Ron Gant, Brian Hashemite kingdom of jordan, Dmitri Young, Ray Lankford, and Willie McGee.
In that location was just reserve, Randy Winn, and fresh faced rookie John Jay on the roster in 2010.
Cardinals' purists expressed in private that bringing in Mark McGwire, a hitting passenger vehicle in disguise of La Russa'south humanitarian hire, was a disgrace: the latter's biggest PR mistake.
McGwire enjoyed fan support as the new hit coach, but he failed promising infielder Brendan Ryan who was mired in the .220's after batting .292 last season.
McGwire's fan back up slipped subsequently the team batting average dipped below last year's (.261)
Turns out Tony's acme PR blunder was allowing the big African American fan base's discontent to brew by non bringing in star-caliber African American players while other teams were.
La Russa was accused by Ozzie Smith, in 1996, of being a big, fatty, and bold liar, and La Russa admitted that he sometimes exchanges heated words with Pujols.
Both players are icons in St. Louis' blackness community.
Ron Gant once defendant La Russa of having a problem with blackness players. Simply who is Ron Gant?
African American discontent with baseball game is old news, but in St. Louis, the American baseball game Mecca to some, their waning loyalty is something serious.
But is this La Russa'south error? After all, who was he given to work with?
Who could the Cardinals have signed instead of Matt Holiday that would satisfy the hunger for a star black player in St. Louis? No one comes to mind.
To be fair, La Russa additional the careers of Dave Stewart and Ricky Henderson in Oakland, and Tony clashed with Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Colby Rasmus, and Felipe Lopez.
The manner the Cardinals clashed with much success against the superlative teams in the NL this season, yet they flopped against lesser squads, leaves Cardinals' Nation crystal balling for answers.
The Cardinals are 28-22 against Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco, and Cincinnati, only they are 39-45 against teams with losing records.
The blame has to go to the manager: it'due south obvious that he has lost control of the team.
Felipe Lopez experienced his worst MLB flavour this yr, and he became tardily, or AWOL on a few occasions as his playing time receded in the last few weeks.
La Russa losing the team makes my breadbasket feel rotten to the core.
The Cardinals have the core talent to compete for a championship every year for the adjacent v years. A fresh confront at the captain will too reinvigorate the team's young and rising star players.
Rasmus was the stud of the Cardinals' farm system earlier existence called up, and he is a fan favorite, and many believe he is on his way to becoming a perennial All Star.
Then the ugly rumors started to swirl about Rasmus demanding for Mozeliak to trade him due to a shortage of playing fourth dimension attributed to a strained relationship with Tony La Russa.
But in public, Rasmus made information technology quite clear that he wants to stay in St. Louis and that his relationship with La Russa is fine.
Mozeliak went on record to say that Rasmus' frustration with playing time had been brewing.
Déjà vu all once more: Scott Rolen'due south saga had the same flavour.
The Cardinals' GMs official statement showed Cardinals' fans that Rasmus was the Kobe of the Cardinals and that La Russa was Redbirds' Shaq.
Suddenly, Rasmus' playing fourth dimension increased, and he went on a tear after he was set complimentary: he was in specific productive while hitting in the tertiary spot for the ailing Pujols.
The Cardinals accept Rasmus, 24, under contract for iv more than years, and Redbirds' contumely realizes it would be foolish to risk some other Scott Rolen like drama.
Rolen'southward new director, Dusty Baker, got the most production out of Scotty this year since Scott was a Primal, and Dusty out coached Tony down the season's stretch starting after the infamous brawl and subsequent series sweep with and by the Cardinals in August.
Who knew that Rolen and his brash teammate, 2B Brandon Phillips, would get the final laugh on La Russa this season?
For these reasons, Mr. La Russa, delight, take one for the team.
Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/473687-mlb-why-tony-la-russa-should-quit-his-job-with-the-saint-louis-cardinals
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